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2021 Special Awards Announcements
March-April-early May
Written feature stories on each Special Awards recipient posted on CoSIDA.com, social channels.
May is CoSIDA Awards Month
A video series highlighting 2020 and 2021 Special Awards honorees will be showcased on CoSIDA.com.
Plans are underway to honor the 2020 and 2021 CoSIDA Hall of Fame classes and the CoSIDA Academic All-America® Hall of Fame classes of 2020 and 2021, with pre-recorded video presentations during the June virtual convention.
Six-Member CoSIDA Hall of Fame Class of 2021 Highlights Special Awards Honorees
The class, which will be honored virtually this year, is comprised of three active CoSIDA members (former CoSIDA President Herb Vincent of the SEC, Mark Fleming of Moravian and John Kean of Missouri S&T), two selections from the veteran's group (retired ESPN executive Rosa Gatti and Texas' Chris Plonsky) and the late Chris Wenzler (formerly of John Carroll University).
The College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA) will honor nearly 40 members, distinguished media and collegiate administrators with its 2021 Special Awards.
The Special Awards, announced throughout the week of Feb. 22-26, are presented for outstanding contributions to the organization. Those honors are usually presented at the in-person June convention, but CoSIDA's 64th annual convention this June will be virtual, due to pandemic concerns.
The 2021 CoSIDA Hall of Fame class highlights the Special Awards. In addition to the Hall of Fame, other Special Awards recognize emerging leaders, community service, lifetime achievement, organization trailblazer, outstanding media contribution, and 25-Year service honors. They will be announced throughout the week.
CoSIDA is comprised of intercollegiate athletic communications and media relations professionals from colleges, universities and athletic conferences at all divisions of competition in the United States and Canada.
"One of the proudest days, each year, for our profession is when CoSIDA announces its award winners," stated CoSIDA President Sam Atkinson, Gallaudet University Associate AD/Communications. "On behalf of the CoSIDA Executive Board of Directors, we want to congratulate each and everyone who was selected and will be honored in the coming months. They are all deserving of these awards, especially our accomplished and impressive Hall of Fame class."
Highlighting the 2021 honorees are six new CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductees:
- Mark Fleming – Moravian College, Director of Athletic Communications
- Rosa Gatti – former ESPN Senior Vice President, Communications Counsel and Corporate Outreach (retired)
- John Kean – Missouri S&T, Sports Information Director
- Chris Plonsky – University of Texas, Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director/Chief of Staff
- Herb Vincent – Southeastern Conference, Associate Commissioner/past CoSIDA President
- Chris Wenzler – John Carroll, Assistant Athletic Director for Communications / Sports Information (deceased)
In March and April, feature stories on all Special Awards recipients will be posted on CoSIDA.com and on CoSIDA social channels. May is designated as CoSIDA (Video) Awards Month when pre-recorded videos with the 2020 and 2021 Special Award winners will be showcased during that month (due to two years of virtual convention programming).
Each of these six CoSIDA Hall of Fame inductees will join their predecessors on the CoSIDA Hall of Fame plaques that are on permanent display at the NCAA Hall of Champions in Indianapolis.
Veterans Committee Hall of Fame inductees represent former sports information professionals of distinction from the past whose professional and personal deeds and accomplishments helped make possible the stature of the sports information profession today. The inaugural Veterans Committee selections were named on June 25, 2009 at the San Antonio Convention.
This year, Gatti and Plonsky are the two former SIDS selected as part of the Veteran's Committee nominations.
"There is a reason we refer to these as 'special' awards," noted CoSIDA Executive Director Doug Vance. "They recognize some really special people in our profession and its always a time of pride when we get to honor them. This is a week where we recognize achievement at the highest level throughout our profession and beyond. Congratulations to all of our recipients!"
Please refer to the schedule above for daily announcements of the 2021 CoSIDA Special Awards throughout the week of Feb. 22-26. (Note: The 2021 CoSIDA Academic All-America Hall of Fame Class and the 2021 Dick Enberg Award winner will be announced at a later date.)
Here's a closer look at the CoSIDA Hall of Fame Class of 2021.
Established in 1969, CoSIDA inducted 39 individuals in its inaugural class. A total of 230 members have been inducted to date including the 2020 class of Bob Beretta (West Point), Kent Cherrington (Lasell), Doug Hauschild (Dayton), Joe Mitch (Missouri Valley Conference/USBWA), Blake Timm (GNAC) and David Worlock (NCAA). See CoSIDA Hall of Fame Class of 2020 release.
Mark Fleming – Moravian (Director of Athletic Communications)
Serving CoSIDA.
For the past 24 years,
Mark Fleming has served as the sports information director at Moravian, responsible for the publicity of 20 varsity sports, including the marketing and promotion of the Greyhounds. He works closely with his administration and coaches for department-wide special events and initiatives as well as collaborating with the campus and local communities. Fleming is also active in community service, including Special Olympics and the campus Heritage Day.
Fleming has been an active member of CoSIDA for many years, with his involvement at the highest levels of leadership volunteerism. Fleming currently serves as the chair of the Academic All-America Hall of Fame committee and is a former member of the Academic All-America committee. serving on the board of directors from 2011-14. He also served as the chair of the (former) College Division Management Advisory Committee from 2014-17. In 2013, Fleming was honored with CoSIDA's Lester Jordan Award, given in recognition of outstanding support and contributions to the Academic All-America program.
A 1994 graduate of Edinboro University of Pennsylvania with a bachelor's degree in speech communications and a minor in journalism, Fleming entered the sports information field as a student in 1990. He received a master's degree in health and physical education with a concentration in sport management from East Stroudsburg University of Pennsylvania in May of 1997. While at East Stroudsburg, Fleming worked as a graduate assistant in the sports information office. He then worked as an assistant SID at Bentley College and served at the Northeast-10 Conference prior to joining Moravian.
Rosa Gatti – ESPN (Senior Vice President, Communications Counsel and Corporate Outreach, Retired)
A decorated pioneer for women in the athletics communications college and corporate profession.
Rosa Gatti began her career as the first female SID at a major university, first at her alma mater Villanova and then later at Brown University. She then became an ESPN and cable television pioneer, leaving the Brown college campus in 1980 to join a fledgling ESPN corporation when she was named the organization's director of communications just nine months after it went on the air.
Gatti spent 33 years at ESPN being named vice-president then senior vice president. As director of communications in 1980 and, one year later, as vice president, she built the communications department, establishing policies and best practices. Over the years, she and her team helped to grow the ESPN brand and its drive for diversity for 33 years. She retired in 2013 as Senior Vice President, Communications Counsel and Corporate Outreach. Currently, Gatti serves as a consultant on several non-profit boards.
Prior to joining ESPN, Gatti served on the CoSIDA Board of Directors while at Brown. She was the first female member of a CoSIDA Board and the first female in the CoSIDA officers rotation during the 1979-80 academic year.
Gatti has been recognized by CoSIDA numerous times with some of its highest honors. She received the 1987 Jake Wade Award (for outstanding contributions to college athletics by a media member); the 2003 Keith Jackson Eternal Flame Award (awarded for lasting contributions to intercollegiate athletics with demonstrated a long and consistent commitment to excellence and loyal support of CoSIDA and its mission); and the 2019 Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer Award.
Additionally, due to Gatti's long-time involvement and commitment with CoSIDA, she encouraged ESPN's corporate partner sponsorship of CoSIDA throughout the years she served at ESPN.
Gatti served on the Villanova University board of trustees for 10 years. As a Connecticut resident, she joined the University of New Haven Board of Governors in 2010 and is a past president of the board of directors of the Association for Cable Communicators. Among the boards of directors she served on were The V Foundation for Cancer Research and the Henry C. Lee Institute of Forensic Science. She has received numerous awards for her public and community relations efforts. Among her numerous honors, Gatti received the 2013 Association For Women In Sports Media (AWSM) Mary Garber Pioneer Award.
John Kean – Missouri S&T (Sports Information Director)
Helping forge a strategic path for NCAA Division II athletic communications.
For over 30 years,
John Kean has served as the sports information director at Missouri S&T as well as developing and maintaining the DII Men's Basketball Home page, the bible of DII basketball, and home for information about the division since 1996. Kean has also served as a liaison with the National Basketball Coaches Association DII men's basketball poll for 17 years.
Kean is currently serving on the CoSIDA Board of Directors as a college division representative. He served as the president of D2SIDA from 2015-18 after serving in the officer rotation from 2012-15. As a member of D2SIDA, he has worked to develop the professional development curriculum for the Division II Divisional Day at the convention. While on the D2SIDA leadership team, he also played an integral role in the update of the D2SIDA strategic communications document. Prior to his term as president, Kean served as vice president and as a member of the D2SIDA board.
While serving as president, Kean attended four NCAA Conventions as the D-II representative for a CoSIDA leadership group that meets at the convention. He also served as a member of the (former) College Division Management Advisory Committee for CoSIDA.
Kean was also named the 2017-18 Great Lakes Valley Conference Dr. Thomas Kearns Service Award winner.
He is a 1986 graduate of Southeast Missouri State.
Chris Plonsky – Texas (Executive Senior Associate Athletics Director/Chief of Staff)
Multi-honored women's sports pioneer serving as a leader in numerous collegiate national organizations.
Chris Plonsky has worked in college athletics since 1976 and is in her 32nd year at The University of Texas. She is executive senior associate athletics director/chief of staff and is UT's senior woman administrator for Big 12 Conference and NCAA governance.
In 1979, Plonsky began her career as the women's sports information director at Iowa State before moving into the same role at Texas in 1982.
Plonsky served at the Big East Conference for eight years as the director of communications and associate commissioner before returning to the Longhorns as the senior associate athletic director. During her time at UT, Plonsky also served as the women's athletic director at Texas for 15 years.
In CoSIDA, Plonsky was a member of then-president Roger Valdisseri's task force committee to consider the organization's direction. Plonsky also helped start the CoSIDA Writing Contest. In 2010, Plonsky received the Mary Jo Haverbeck Trailblazer Award, presented annually to an individual who is a pioneer in the field of sports information and who has mentored and helped improve the level of ethnic and gender diversity within CoSIDA.
As a Texas administrator, Plonsky has been a noted presenter during CoSIDA conventions, webinars and podcasts through the years.
Among her other numerous honors, Plonsky was named the Women Leaders in College Sports Administrator of the Year in 2014. She is a USA Basketball board member, a USOC Collegiate Advisory Council member and an emeritus board member of the National Football Foundation/College Football Hall of Fame.
Past President of NACDA, NACMA and Women Leaders in College Sports (formerly NACWAA), she is a past member of the NACDA Board, the LEAD1 board (formerly Division 1AD Association), and has served NCAA committees on Academic Performance, Women's Basketball Competition and NCAA Commercialization activities. She chaired the NCAA Division I Management Council in 2003.
Herb Vincent – Southeastern Conference (Associate Commissioner/Communications)
Award-winning lifetime career at LSU and at the SEC.
Herb Vincent has served as the Associate Commissioner for Communications at the SEC since 2013, where he is responsible for all of the communication strategies of the conference as well as serving as the main spokesperson for the SEC. Prior to that, Vincent served more than 20 years at Louisiana State University working his way up from assistant sports information director to director to Senior Associate Athletic Director then Associate Vice-Chancellor. He supervised the sports information office and marketing and promotions office, served as the primary liaison with LSU Sports Properties, and was the department administrator for baseball.
In 2019-20, Vincent served as the CoSIDA President after serving on the Board of Directors from 2015-19. He received the organization's Arch Ward Award in 2019 for outstanding contributions to the profession. He also was a CoSIDA 25-Year Award recipient in 2012.
In 2015, Vincent was named to the LSU Alumni Hall of Distinction, and his work in the profession through the years has been recognized for its excellence many times. In March of 2020, Vincent was inducted into the LSU Manship School of Mass Communication Hall of Fame. He is also the author of one book on LSU football.
Before joining LSU, Vincent had previously worked on the SEC staff from 1986 to 1987 as Assistant Director of Public Relations. Vincent earned a bachelor's degree in journalism from LSU in 1983.
Chris Wenzler – John Caroll (Deceased)
A Blue Streak for life.
Chris Wenzler, who had a storied SID career at his alma mater John Carroll and was a beloved figure in the community, is being honored
posthumously.
Just four months after his graduation in 1990 from John Carroll, Wenzler was named the athletic department's sports information director. He stayed at his alma mater throughout his illustrious and impactful career.
In August 2008, Wenzler was given additional responsibilities as John Carroll's first Assistant Athletic Director for Communications. In his 20 years at JCU, he built an office that boasted over 30 student employees, a graduate assistant and the latest in multimedia and technological equipment. John Carroll hosted numerous NCAA DIII Championships during his tenure.
Wenzler passed away on June 23, 2020 following a two-and-a-half-year battle with multiple myeloma.
For his extraordinary efforts on behalf of JCU Athletics and his service to John Carroll and its students, he was elected to the JCU Athletic Hall of Fame in 2019.
He earned a CoSIDA 25-Year Award in 2016. CoSIDA's 2018 Bob Kenworthy Community Service Award recipient, Wenzler was known for his extensive community service, internationally and locally. He was involved with on-campus service days and numerous community charitable events. Wenzler joined nine immersion trips as a staff member at John Carroll including Jamaica (five times), Ecuador (three times), and Guatemala. On campus, he spearheaded Streaks to the Max, in partnership with Max Cure Foundation. Each year, the events bring together the creative efforts of student-athletes to raise money for families affected by pediatric cancer.